


Spengler's Gambit

by Kaleidograph



Series: Ghost Stories [4]
Category: Ghostbusters - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-15
Updated: 2014-09-15
Packaged: 2018-02-17 11:59:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2308919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaleidograph/pseuds/Kaleidograph
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*FLASHBACK* November 2008</p><p>On Marie's first assignment out of training, she is held hostage by an old foe with a vendetta against Dr. Spengler. Marie's reason for running away from New York City is revealed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spengler's Gambit

November 2008

“Your very first assignment. Welcome to being a Ghostbuster, Masha.” Egon beamed as he handed Marie the folder containing the details of her first case. She had spent months training for this moment, and now that it was here, she could hardly wait to get her very own proton pack on and start busting some ghosts. Marie grinned at her stepfather and ran downstairs to her locker. 

 

“Alright, let’s move it, turtles! Autobots, roll out!” Ray called, herding all of the participating Ghostbusters to pile into Ecto-5, the massive white Expedition with all of their equipment packed in and their logo emblazoned on the sides. “Venkman one, Venkman two, Ryan Stantz, Griffin, Tully, let’s roll! Pack it in! Spengs, you coming?”

“Ray, I told you I was sitting this one out. The training wheels are coming off today,” Egon replied sternly, watching his stepdaughter raise a cheerful fist into the air as she climbed into the Expedition. Ray leaned in closely to Egon.

“Are you sure she’s ready for this?”

“I’m always sure.” Egon glanced over at Janine, who was sitting at her desk, staring daggers into his back. He knew she was seething mad that this was happening, but Marie was eighteen now, and free to make her own decisions. Janine thundered over to where he stood, waiting for them to leave, and whispered to her husband, “If a single hair on her head is harmed, it’s your ass.” Egon was disappointed in Janine’s vote of no confidence.

“Janine, we discussed this. She is free to make her own decisions. This is her choice. I have trained her to the best of my abilities, and she’s a phenom. I have the utmost confidence that this will be a success.”

“You had better,” Janine grumbled, the worry in her voice becoming apparent.

 

The Ecto-5 pulled out of the firehouse, and Marie waved goodbye to her mother and stepfather, grinning the entire time. She flipped open the briefing dossier and read up on what they were facing: A class four with a known history of violence. Fun. Early reports suggest subject is a witch with unknown capabilities.  
Witches? Strange. Most of the witches they had dealt with in the past were much friendlier, and frequented Ray’s bookstore. The coven had even blessed Ryan’s birth—witches? No, something strange was going on here. Marie had a horrible, sinking feeling. She stared out the window and let her mind wander, until Peter jostled her out of her reverie.

“You ready for your first taste of blood, Little Spengs?” Marie chuckled at her nickname, hoping she could live up to it today. She and her stepfather were as thick as thieves, practically inseparable. He spent every moment possible training her on how to use the equipment, how to trap different kinds of paranormal entities, and different field skills he found useful. Today was her first flight without his guidance—a thought that both excited and terrified her, and everyone around her, it seemed.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Well, no turning back now, cause here we are.”

 

As night fell, they arrived at the location of the bust. Marie knew this place. The World’s Fair was here some years ago. What the hell could be in here?, she thought. It gave her the creeps. Something that used to be a paragon of human creation and excellence was now a dilapidated ghost hive. And she was going into it. As she strapped her pack on, a cold feeling rattled her spine. 

“Something’s close, I can feel it,” Ray intoned, adjusting a knob on Peter’s pack. “Alright, let’s do this. You ready, kiddo?”

“Ready,” Marie gulped. Together, they all headed into the park, Ray first, followed by Oscar, then Peter, then Marie. Once inside, everything was quiet. No sound but the wind could be heard. Then, it began.

“Bravo, Ghostbusters. This was frighteningly easy. You delivered her right to me…” a disembodied, husky, female voice drawled. Ray, the two Venkmans, and Marie all glanced at each other, worriedly. The color drained out of Marie’s face. 

“Delivered? We ain’t no delivery boys!” Peter hollered, clutching his particle thrower tightly, ready to flip it open. A woman in a slinky red dress appeared, with long brown hair in perfect Veronica-Lake-style waves—but her face was nothing resembling human. It was the most frightening thing Marie had seen. Her rotted, decayed face made the Crypt Keeper look like a male model. 

“Who are you?” Marie asked politely, trying to remember her training.

“Oh, dear girl. I have been waiting for you for so long.” Just then, it dawned on Peter and Ray who the woman was: Kestrel. Kestrel was an ancient witch they had dealt with once before, some twenty-odd years ago. She seemed to have a personal vendetta for Dr. Spengler and his family. Ray realized what Kestrel had meant when she said “You delivered her.”

“MARIE, RUN,” Ray commanded, but it was too late. Marie couldn’t feel her legs.

“Ray, I—I can’t move! I’m stuck!” Ray, Peter and Oscar shot their proton beams at the witch, but she was too quick. She evaded their shots and her arms stretched out, taking Marie by the shoulders, ripping her from the place she stood with a blood-curdling scream.  
Just like that, Marie was gone.

“MAN DOWN! WE NEED BACKUP!”  
   
Back at the firehouse, Egon heard the call for backup loud and clear on his scanner radio. A horrible feeling gnawed in the pit of his stomach—what the hell was happening.

“Venky, talk to me. What’s happening?”

“Spengs, a blast from your past just kidnapped your stepdaughter. Witch, name of Kestrel. She wants her something bad. You’d better get down here ASAP,” Ray relayed over the radio. Fortunately, Janine didn’t hear any of this. Egon raced to get suited up and to sneak out of the firehouse. He jumped into the Ecto Cruiser (the sleek Camaro they had bought last month) and floored it to Queens. He had to get his girl back.  
“Marie, if you can hear me, I’m coming.”

“Ohhhh… Doctor…” a voice not belonging to Marie swooned, as if the person on the other end were a phone sex operator. “Doctor, I’ve got an itch… I think I need something for it…”

“Kestrel, your quarrel isn’t with her, it’s with me.”

“Oh, see, that’s where you’re wrong. My quarrel is entirely with Little Miss Spengler here. What a pretty little girl you are. Say hi to your precious girl, Doctor.”

“Marie, can you hear me?” Marie let out a muffled scream, the sound of which made Egon want to vomit.  
“MASHA, HOLD ON!” he bellowed, pushing the pedal even further down to the floorboards.

“Marie, why don’t you say hi to dear old dad?” Kestrel removed the gag from Marie’s mouth and held her radio close.

“PLEASE, LET ME GO!” Marie shrieked and pleaded, but Kestrel placed the gag back in her mouth.

“No, I think I like you better when you don’t speak. HEAR THIS, SPENGLER. In one hour I’m going to spill this little girl’s guts from here to the harbor, and I’m going to make sure you’re here to watch. Then, I’m going to take a bubble bath in every last drop of her blood. Got it? So come on down and see the show—it’s gonna be a real…. Slice…” Kestrel drew out her last word, and Marie screamed. Kestrel ran one long, razor-sharp fingernail down the girl’s neck, leaving a red scratch mark near her collarbone. Marie continued to scream until her face turned a dark purple—which annoyed Kestrel, who turned around and slugged Marie in the face.

“Will you please shut up? All that screaming is getting on my nerves. You’re a big girl, now. Big girls don’t cry,” Kestrel taunted.

Ray and Peter and their longtime field agent Kylie scoured the park looking for any sign of Marie—they found her, bound and gagged inside the Unisphere. She was tied by her wrists and ankles to the bars of the unisphere. Kestrel was nowhere to be found. Peter and Oscar tried to bust her out of the sphere, but at the slightest touch, the sphere sent a massive electrical shock into them both. There was no getting to her from this side. Ray didn’t want to call Ryan into this, but he was left with little choice.

 

“Ryan, work your magic, baby girl. We need a hasty miracle,” he radioed to her, as she was still waiting in Ecto-5. 

“One miracle, coming up!” Ryan squeaked, flinging the door open and beginning to draw frantically in chalk on the pavement below her, lighting candles and placing them strategically. “Spirits, come to me. Spirits, I invite you in. Benevolent spirits, I bid you come. Kestrel, creature of flesh and blood you may be, no more shall you cause harm. By all the power of three by three, this spell is bound, so shall it be. May it cause no harm or return onto me, as is my will, so mote it be. My gratitude to the goddess.”

“KEEP GOING, IT’S WORKING!” Ray exclaimed over the radio. Ryan was too busy in her sacred circle to answer him. 

 

The electric field on the unisphere began to weaken, but it was still too dangerous to touch. Ryan began working on another spell to weaken the field. She poured a can of salt around the unisphere, lit a candle, and began to chant:

“Positive energy, stay with me. Negative energy, let me be. Hear my call, evil shall fall. I banish all evil will, I demand to be heard. This is my will, so mote it be.” 

As Ryan was finishing her banishment spell, the Camaro screeched to a stop next to Ecto-5. Spengler jumped out and raced to where the others were waiting. The sight of Marie bound, gagged and helpless sickened him. The blood rushed to his face, and the words bubbled up from his gut like a horrible sickness working its way out of the body;

“KESTREL! COME DOWN HERE AND FACE ME.” As he called her, Kestrel appeared, seeming to look slightly less rotten and decayed. He knew why, too—Kestrel was siphoning Marie’s essence into herself. 

“Oh, good, now it’s a party. Why don’t you have a seat!” Kestrel demanded, forcing Egon into a sitting position in a chair she conjured out of the blue. 

“Take me instead, Kestrel.”

“Nice try, but you know that’s not the deal. The first Spengler girl is mine, and you know it.”

“Kestrel, you’re making a mistake.” The witch seemed to take grand offense to this insult.

“Mistake? The only mistake I made was not slaughtering your family when they hopped off that boat, SPENGLER. I should have strangled this little beauty in her crib and taken my pound of flesh right then and there, but I wanted to wait. I wanted the time to be JUST PERFECT for our little date with destiny.”

“Kestrel, she’s not my daughter.”

“Bullshit. You know, you have a lot of nerve, lying to me like that. Every last one of you Spenglers—so arrogant.”

“She’s not of Spengler blood, Kestrel. She’s my stepdaughter.” Kestrel seemed mortified. Nonetheless, she continued on with her plan as usual.

“Doesn’t matter to me. I think I can settle for the blood of this pretty little thing, Spengler or not. Indulge me, Doctor—do you love her?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Then let me put it to you a little more plainly—“Kestrel zipped over to brace herself on Egon’s lap, and pressed the button on his radio. “Why don’t you tell her how much you love her?”

 

Egon had to make a decision. Kestrel was the vindictive type. If he said he loved her, it was game over. Kestrel would surely see to it Marie’s life ended on this day. If he said he didn’t – which would require a fair amount of deception—Marie could be saved. It was a tricky gambit to play, but it was all he had.

“I’m sorry,” he choked. “But you aren’t my daughter. I don’t love you. You’re a spoiled little bitch who has no future in this company. I sent you here to die.” Egon hoped he hadn’t oversold it, trying to fight back the tears that were pressing against his eyes.

Marie hung her head and sobbed, not wanting to believe any of this was true. How could he say that to her, after eighteen years?

 _Don’t believe it for a second—he’s lying to save you…_. A voice whispered in Marie’s mind. Venkman? Oh my god, Venkman!

_I’m so scared… Hurry…_

“Oh, good! I was afraid I was going to have to let your precious baby girl go—we were having so much fun, weren’t we, little Marie? But since you obviously don’t care for her, you won’t mind if I do THIS?” Kestrel teased, slicing into Marie’s torso with one sharp fingernail. Bright red blood trickled down Marie’s stomach and onto the ground below—effectively neutralizing the electrical field. Marie screamed in agony as the witch continued to torture her, cutting small gashes into various body parts. Kestrel howled when she felt her field being weakened, as if it caused her actual physical pain.

 

“IT’S DOWN, GO! SOMEONE GET HER OUT!” Oscar clambered into the sphere as Peter and Ray opened their particle throwers up and got them ready to cook. Oscar swung his knife and cut the cords that bound Marie’s hands and feet, and they both fell to the ground. Marie removed the gag from her mouth and choked on her own saliva, vomiting when she couldn’t get herself steadied. 

“Ryan, get that crystal ready!”

“Ready when you are, Dad!” Ryan shouted in reply.

“NOW!” Ryan dropped a large crystal directly into the trap, and Peter and Ray brought Kestrel down into it. 

“That’s it, huh? She’s in there good?” Oscar queried, examining the stone.

“Better not touch that. Let me do a binding spell before we put her on display.”

 

Marie lay on the ground, rocking in the fetal position. As soon as he could, Egon raced over to her side. The guilt of the things he said was chewing away at his insides like some terrible parasite. 

 

“Oh, no… Oh, sweet girl…. I am so, so sorry.” Egon cradled Marie in his arms as if she were an infant again, letting her cry. Sobs filled the nighttime air, and he continued to stroke her hair as he held her against his chest. “I love you so much. I had to lie.”

“You lied.”

“I had to lie to save you.”

“You lied to me. You raised me like you were raising a lamb for slaughter!”

“No, Marie. Never. You know I would not knowingly, willingly put you in harm’s way.” Marie sobbed in her stepfather’s arms, wanting nothing more than to get as far away from this place as possible. “Are you injured?” he asked, examining the scratches and superficial cuts on her body.

“A little.”

“Ray, we’ve got to get her out of here, now.”

 

Ray and Egon helped brace Marie to stand and carried her back to Ecto-5, speeding away from the scene as quickly as they could. Ryan and Oscar sat silent in the back seat, both applying ointment to Marie’s cuts. A shiner was developing on Marie’s left eye from where Kestrel punched her. Nobody said a word the entire way home, but Marie could hear someone’s voice—Venkman? 

_“You did well, kid. Not many people can step toe to toe with that thing and live to tell. Don’t be too hard on your dad. He put his life on the line for you.”_

_“How are you doing this?”_

_“Wouldn’t you like to know?”_ Peter thought, showing Marie a wry smile.

 

Once back in the station, Egon stitched up the few cuts on Marie that warranted stitching, and Janine watched in horror. Once they were done, she pulled her husband aside and moved the glasses from his face. He knew what was coming.

SMACK.

Janine’s palm connected with Egon’s jaw, leaving a bright red handprint. 

“I told you that if she was harmed in any way, it was your ass.”

“Janine, don’t be a fool. This was her choice, and you know as well as I do what a dangerous job this is. Don’t blame me for the dangers that we all face here.”

“Did you know it was Kestrel?”

“Yes.”

“Did you know she was after Marie?”

“No.”

“I heard her mention a deal. What is this deal you have?”

“Not negotiated under my hand. Eli Spengler, my ancestor—they made a deal with Kestrel. The next female born into the family would be promised to her, as her vessel.”

“And she thought Marie was yours?”

“She did. I tried to reason with her, but I think that only antagonized her further. There’s something about Marie she likes—something she wants. I don’t know what it is. I need to do more research on her, because I fear this crystal will fail again. I’m afraid she’ll go after her again.”

 

Outside the lab door, Marie could hear every word they exchanged. A sick feeling settled in her stomach, and she couldn’t take another word. She gathered up her belongings, cleared out her locker, loaded up her car, and took off. She pulled her phone out of her black leather purse and dialed.

 

“Tully law offices, Michelle speaking, how may I direct your call?”

“Hey, it’s Marie. Is my dad in?”

“Yeah, I’ll transfer you over.” Marie waited--- 

“Louis Tully speaking.”

“Daddy? It’s me.”

“Hi, baby! How was your first job?”

“Is my room still available?” Louis’s tone changed when she asked him this.

“Of course. What’s wrong?”

“I’m scared. I need to get away for a little while.”

“You know where I am. Come on home.”

“Give me 16 hours. I’m driving down now.”

“I’ll meet you at the house.”

 

Marie drove and drove and drove until she reached her father’s lavish house in Palm Beach. She stumbled into the door and collapsed into her father’s arms. 

“That bad, huh?” Louis asked, examining the bruised, battered girl.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Alright then. Make yourself at home. Grandma’s going to be excited you’re home.”

“I can’t wait to see her,” Marie smiled bleakly. She hadn’t seen her grandma or her uncle Sherman in a few years. She always enjoyed being at their house, which was only a few miles down the road. Marie opened the door to her old bedroom, and it was just as she remembered it. The purple walls. The white furniture. The canopy bed. The cow pillow. The balcony--- oh dear God, the balcony! The view of the ocean! Marie opened the balcony door and flopped back onto her giant princess bed. Staring at the ceiling, she contemplated the gravity of what she had just done: abandoned her life in New York, left behind the things she loved the most. But this was for the best. She couldn’t stick around if it meant being hunted. 

Her phone vibrated with a flood of angry, worried messages from her mother, and only one from her stepfather. 

_Please let us know you are safe. I’m so sorry this happened. We love you._

Marie turned her phone off and tossed it across the room. 

__

Goodbye, New York.  
Goodbye, Mom.  
Goodbye, Ghostbusters.  
Goodbye, Egon.

Marie smiled when she came to the realization that she was never going back to New York.


End file.
